Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Monday, Nov 18, 2002
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Monday, Nov 18, 2002 |
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Agri-Biz & Commodities
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Bio-tech & Genetics Outdoor `pharming' of drug crops puts food chain at risk Our Bureau
MUMBAI, Nov. 17 CONTAMINATION in the food chain from crops genetically engineered to produce pharmaceuticals or industrial proteins is not likely to be an one-off incident as open field trials are currently on in hundreds of locations throughout the heart of the US farming regions, Greenpeace has warned. The caution notice follows news that the US Government is currently recalling from the food chain some five lakh bushels of soyabean contaminated with a drug-producing maize variety. Although the exact variety of maize has not been disclosed to the public, the contaminated supplies are believed to contain a pharmaceutical protein called trypsin used, amongst other things, in the manufacture of insulin for treatment of diabetes. The maize is not approved for human consumption. Greenpeace has highlighted the fact that while the lifesciences industry is already producing drugs and proteins for industrial use in rice, wheat, maize and barley, few regulations to protect public health and the environment are in place. An expert committee of the US National Academy of Sciences had said recently ``it is possible that crops transformed to produce pharmaceuticals or other industrial compounds might mate with plantations grown for human consumption, with the unanticipated result of novel chemicals in the human food chain''. The ``pharm-crop'' in question comes from Texas-based biotechnology company ProdiGene which has a history of mishandling its ``pharm'' crops twice in the past three months resulting in contamination of the food supply with unapproved, drug-producing crops, Greenpeace pointed out. Coming after the Starlink fiasco a couple of years ago when genetically modified maize not approved for human consumption was found in food, the latest issue raises serious questions concerning crop safety, regulatory oversight, consumer choice and biosafety.
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